Introducing a kitten to a cat?
Discussion
I had 2 cats, brothers about 2 years old. Unfortunately one was hit by a car and killed a fortnight ago. He was the more dominant of the two and our remaining cat doesn't seemed to fuss by it all; he's just enjoying the extra attention.
My partner and I work full time (hence having 2 cats to keep each other company) I have been off work for the past couple of weeks and will shortly be back to work. I fear that Elmo will get bored on his own - he is incredibly curious and demands a lot of attention.
I was hoping introducing a kitten will keep him company and stave off some of the boredom he'll have when I am back to work. We were going to introduce a female kitten in the hope Elmo wouldn't be too threatened by her?
Has anyone had any experience of introducing a kitten succesfully?
My partner and I work full time (hence having 2 cats to keep each other company) I have been off work for the past couple of weeks and will shortly be back to work. I fear that Elmo will get bored on his own - he is incredibly curious and demands a lot of attention.
I was hoping introducing a kitten will keep him company and stave off some of the boredom he'll have when I am back to work. We were going to introduce a female kitten in the hope Elmo wouldn't be too threatened by her?
Has anyone had any experience of introducing a kitten succesfully?
Yes, although to do it 'properly' requires time and patience.
the following should be done over a number of weeks.
Basic advice is keep them separate in the house, kitten locked in one room with you, usual cat free to roam the house - then swap them over, get them used to the smells.
then put one in a mesh cat basket, and let the other one in let them sniff around, then via versa.
then put food bowls either side of a slightly open door (just enough so they can see each other) so they eat and become familiar with eating/being near another moggy.
this worked for us and our two now get on really well. The other theory is just put them in the same room and let them figure it out, which would probably work 95% of the time but if you don't want to take the risk try it our way..
the following should be done over a number of weeks.
Basic advice is keep them separate in the house, kitten locked in one room with you, usual cat free to roam the house - then swap them over, get them used to the smells.
then put one in a mesh cat basket, and let the other one in let them sniff around, then via versa.
then put food bowls either side of a slightly open door (just enough so they can see each other) so they eat and become familiar with eating/being near another moggy.
this worked for us and our two now get on really well. The other theory is just put them in the same room and let them figure it out, which would probably work 95% of the time but if you don't want to take the risk try it our way..
Had to introduce a 4 month old kitten to a 5 year old well established, extremely unsocial, dominant female cat a few weeks back.
I was a little apprehensive at first knowing the older cats nature but it worked out well in the end. We didn't necessarily use the method of introducing cats favoured by the online guides and it may not suite your situation.
We had both cats in a large room with the exits blocked and let one cat out at one end of the room and the new cat at the other. We had 3 people on hand to intervene should the worst have happened. They just slowly approached each other with backs up and a little hissing and moaning but no actual contact. They calmed down after about 30 minutes so we let the established cat out of the cat flap and the new cat followed us into the living room. Old cat reappeared after a few hours laying on the patio. The hissing and moaning was worrying at first and the temptation to separate them and try again the next day was almost overwhelming.
That was about 4 weeks ago and we've had no trouble since. They don't lay together or sleep in the same bed or anything but we knew that would never happen as the old cat is very unsociable and won't even be around people unless it's on her terms. At first it was very much a 'draw a line down the middle of the house, I'll stay on that side and you on the other' type relationship between them but they both seem very happy and they are gradually getting better. They can now both be in the same space without hissing at each other and have on occasion played together. However the kitten doesn't help the situation by being a typical kitten and attacking everything in site, he quite often ambushes the old cat and gets a good beating from her for his troubles.
Just remember that they are quite territorial animals so there will likely be issues at first but if you work at it everything will be ok in the end.
The above reply is how the online guides suggest an introduction is carried out but we didn't have the space to keep two cats separate and happy.
I was a little apprehensive at first knowing the older cats nature but it worked out well in the end. We didn't necessarily use the method of introducing cats favoured by the online guides and it may not suite your situation.
We had both cats in a large room with the exits blocked and let one cat out at one end of the room and the new cat at the other. We had 3 people on hand to intervene should the worst have happened. They just slowly approached each other with backs up and a little hissing and moaning but no actual contact. They calmed down after about 30 minutes so we let the established cat out of the cat flap and the new cat followed us into the living room. Old cat reappeared after a few hours laying on the patio. The hissing and moaning was worrying at first and the temptation to separate them and try again the next day was almost overwhelming.
That was about 4 weeks ago and we've had no trouble since. They don't lay together or sleep in the same bed or anything but we knew that would never happen as the old cat is very unsociable and won't even be around people unless it's on her terms. At first it was very much a 'draw a line down the middle of the house, I'll stay on that side and you on the other' type relationship between them but they both seem very happy and they are gradually getting better. They can now both be in the same space without hissing at each other and have on occasion played together. However the kitten doesn't help the situation by being a typical kitten and attacking everything in site, he quite often ambushes the old cat and gets a good beating from her for his troubles.
Just remember that they are quite territorial animals so there will likely be issues at first but if you work at it everything will be ok in the end.
The above reply is how the online guides suggest an introduction is carried out but we didn't have the space to keep two cats separate and happy.
Edited by dci on Wednesday 9th November 10:13
Edited by dci on Wednesday 9th November 10:15
http://icatcare.org/advice/how-introduce-kitten-ca...
This is an excellent website and offers gold standard advice. Worth a read though you have already had some good replies on here
.
This is an excellent website and offers gold standard advice. Worth a read though you have already had some good replies on here
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